Mystery Burglar
by NekoChan-1995
Summary: Despite the serial killer to go after, Reid and Morgan have been elected to stay behind and find the mysterious burglar who managed to sneak into the FBI undetected and steal a classified file. Reid knows that they need to investigate the murder file to be able to catch the burglar, who he suspects is a woman. On the side, he's met a woman that makes his heart pound. Is he in love?
1. Prologue

She carefully made her way through the camera's field of view with her black ball cap pulled down over her eyes. She had disguised herself to look like a man, though she was really way too slender to pass for one long. She went into the closest men's bathroom she could find and slipped on black rubber gloves before making sure her shoulder-length blonde hair was all shoved under her ball cap so that no strand would fall loose. She couldn't afford to leave any evidence.

As soon as she was done, she made her way through the FBI building into a storage room for files and covered her face with a black handkerchief. She was wearing color-changing contact lens, so if the cameras got a glimpse of her face, she wouldn't be recognized. She walked through the room until she came to the file cabinet she needed and pulled out a paperclip. She managed to pick the lock in under ten seconds and the cabinet opened, revealing the classified files. She flipped through them quickly before finding the one she needed and grabbing it. She closed the drawer and slipped out of the bureau, confident that she wouldn't be caught.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: IN NO WAY CAN I DO BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS LIKE THE REAL SHOW, SO DON'T TAKE WHAT THEY SAY AS ACTUAL FACTS. IT'S SIMPLY THERE TO MOVE THE STORY ALONG IN THE RIGHT WAY.**

Reid walked into the BAU office and saw everyone fascinated by some video. "What's going on? Do we have a new case?"

"There was a burglar last night. He actually managed to make off with a classified file." Rossy told him. "Luckily, we know which one it is, due to our database."

Reid set down his bag and walked over to watch the video. "That's not a man."

"Of course it is. The basic figure is that of a man." Hotchner pointed to the figure on the screen.

Reid paused the video. "The baggy clothes and the way all of her hair is shoved under the ball cap suggests otherwise. This is a woman doing her best to look like a man and doing a good job of it."

The door opened and JJ walked in. "Guys, we have a case over in Texas. Three women are dead and there's another one missing."

"Alright." Hotchner nodded. "Morgan and Reid, you stay here and figure this out. I got a call saying they want at least two of us to work on the case, since the file stolen is an open murder case."

"Okay." Morgan crossed his arms. "We'll figure out who this is." The rest of the team left and the two of them looked more closely at the video. "There are a few things I don't understand about this burglar."

"What?" Reid asked.

"She obviously knows the layout of the building and where the cameras are, but she still looks directly at one of them right as she's taking the file. And she only takes the paper file. She doesn't try to get it out of the electronic database." Morgan explained. "What is she thinking?"

Reid thought about it for a minute. "It's like she wants us to investigate the file again. She looks at the camera as she takes it to make a point. To say, "Here I am, taking this specific file. Make note of it." And she only takes the paper file because she knows we have the database and she wants to be absolutely sure that we find the right file to investigate. She's smart as well. She makes sure that no evidence is left behind. She wore shoes without a proper sole on the bottom, she's wearing rubber gloves to avoid a fingerprint, and she's covering most of her face as well as trying to disguise herself as a man. She's either part of an investigative department or she knows someone who is."

"We need to look into that file." Morgan stated. He flipped open his phone. "Hey, babydoll. I have a favor."

XxXxX

Two hours later, Morgan threw a file across the table to Reid. "There was only one victim in this case. Sandra Roberts. It was five years ago, just a few days after she turned eighteen and graduated high school as the valedictorian. She was abducted, her body was found six months later in an abandoned building. She was embalmed in the Egyptian way, with the exception of the brain being removed and being wrapped in cloth."

"The killer leaving her brain intact would suggest that he took her for her intelligence, so preserving her might be his way of preserving her intelligence, as well as her beauty." Reid stated, picking up a picture of the victim when she was alive. "Blonde hair and blue eyes. We should check and see if there are any other valedictorians that fit her description that were killed within the state. Was she an only child?"

"No. She had a younger sister, Scarlet. At the time, she was sixteen, which would make her twenty-one now." Morgan handed him a picture of the victim with her sister.

"They look a lot alike, other than hair and eye color." Reid stated, looking at the picture of the two teenagers with their arms around each other's shoulders. He felt as if he knew one of them, but he couldn't place which one or how. "Is there anything on the sister?"

"According to the details Garcia gave me, Scarlet is on a full-ride scholarship to George Washington University, with no decided major. She graduated valedictorian of her high school. Her grades never dropped, even after her sister was abducted and found murdered." Morgan told him.

"That's not unusual. There are many occasions where grief just causes someone to work harder in a way to deal with it. She also might have been thinking that she wanted her sister to be proud of her and what she'd accomplished." Reid explained. "Is there anything about discord between the siblings."

"Nothing. Every report shows that Scarlet and her sister got along great since they were kids. I have found documentation saying that she did blame her parents for what happened to Sandra. It caused problems in the home and she moved out as fast as she turned eighteen." Morgan looked across the table at Reid. "Why so much interest in the sister?"

Reid frowned. "Because I think the sister is the one who might have broken in. After five years, the case isn't solved and she's upset. She wants whoever killed her sister found. She needs closure."

"But, why now? After five years? And why not come to the bureau in person and request the case to be reopened?" Morgan asked.

"Last night was the anniversary of her sister's death. I have a feeling she's been to the bureau, but was turned down. She's taking extreme measures." Reid frowned. "We need to talk to her."


	3. Chapter 2

"Hey, Scarlet! How about a beer over here?"

"Don't you think you've had one too many, Jimmy?" Scarlet asked, making an apple martini for another customer and giving it to her, accepting the money and tip. "If I give you another one, I'll be taking your keys and calling you a taxi."

"Can't you just drive me home?" Jimmy called out.

Scarlet glanced over at the middle-aged man. Before he started to drink, he was a nice gentleman that worked a well-playing job, but after his second beer went down, he became decidedly lecherous and hit on every woman in sight, no matter how young or old. She'd even seen him offer to take the owner's wife to a motel. "Jimmy, you told me earlier that your kids are coming to see you tomorrow. Why don't you just go home and sleep off the booze?"

Jimmy sighed and looked at his watch. "You're always right, Scarlet."

"That's good." Scarlet smiled as she took care of another customer by getting him a beer. "Now, why don't you call yourself a taxi. I don't want you driving."

Jimmy left after leaving her a generous tip and Scarlet went into the back to start restocking the front. Amie, another bartender walked up to her before she could get there, though. "How do you do it? Jimmy never leaves."

"You just have to remind him about his kids and he starts to feel guilty about drinking. It's not that hard." Scarlet shrugged.

"Didn't you just turn twenty-one too? How did you get a job here so fast?" Amie asked.

"I called in a favor with Hal." Scarlet told her, moving past her discreetly and grabbing a couple bottles of liquor. "He's my second cousin and I was there when he learned how to mix drinks, so I learned too."

Amie frowned at that and went back to bar-tending. Scarlet sighed and went up back up front as well to replace the liquor she had in her hands with the empty bottles that were under the bar. She knew Amie was going to tell the other employees that she got the job due to her relationship with Hal, but she'd interviewed for her job, just like the rest of them. Hal was just the manager and had gotten her the interview. Unfortunately, none of her coworkers would believe her.

She continued to work, mixing drinks when needed and handing out beers, but was still happy when Amie left and it slowed down. As she was wiping down the bar, closing time coming close, she saw two men walk in. One, she dismissed immediately. He was tall and muscular with dark skin and a tight white t-shirt. The other was cute in an awkward geeky way, with shoulder-length light brown hair and a tall, slim build. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"Scarlet Roberts?" the cute guy asked.

"Yep." Scarlet nodded. "What can I do for you?"

The muscular guy spoke this time. "I'm Special Agent Morgan of the FBI and this Special Agent Reid. We're here to ask you a few questions." he pulled out his badge, as well as Reid.

"Okay. Let me just tell my manager so he can watch the bar." Scarlet nodded and went to the back. "Hal, there are some people here to talk to me. Mind watching the bar? They're FBI."

"No problem." her cousin, Hal, came out of the office. "You're not in trouble, are you?"

"I shouldn't be. Thanks." Scarlet left the back and jumped over the bar, rather than walk around back and use the door, to be able to talk with the agents. "What can I do for you?"

"Where were you last night around eleven?" Reid asked.

"Here." Scarlet told them. "I had to work the late shift from nine to one. What's this about?"

"Someone managed to break into the FBI and steal one of our classified files." Morgan explained. "You're our first suspect."

"What file was taken? Was it related to my sister?" Scarlet asked.

"It was your sister's file." Reid nodded. "Due to the evidence, we believe the suspect wants to get our attention on the file and solve your sister's murder."

Scarlet was surprised. "I don't know who it was, but I can tell you it wasn't me. I've been too busy to even think about it. I go to college full time and work here part time. It's the only thing that keeps my mind off of what happened to her."

"You're still really upset, even after five years?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah. I know it's dumb, since it's been so long since everything happened, but we were really close. She was everything to me." Scarlet felt the grief return and tears welled up in her eyes. "I still can't believe she's gone."

"Is there anything specific you can remember about the night she got abducted?" Morgan asked.

"I'm sorry. I don't know much of anything. I was at home with Mom and Dad while she went out to eat with friends. When she got home, we were going to have a party since it was graduation night." Scarlet shook her head. "I knew something was wrong when she didn't call us at seven to say she was on her way home, but our parents didn't believe me. They didn't admit anything was wrong until nine, when she still wasn't home. That's when we called the police."

"Why were you two so close?" Reid asked.

"I know it's rare for sisters to get along so well, but our real parents died in a car crash when I was three and we were put in foster care until I was eleven. That's when we were adopted by our parents. We had to stay close because we were scared they would separate us. After a while, it was just natural. She was my best friend and the only one other than myself that I could rely on for anything important." Scarlet shrugged. "Can I get back to work? We close soon and I need to help."

"Of course." Reid nodded and pulled a business card out of his pocket. "Here. Call me if you need anything or think of anything you think might be helpful."

Scarlet took the card and slipped it into her back pocket. "Thanks. I will."


End file.
